Opinion + Caroline Flint | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/commentisfree+politics/caroline-flint
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Civil servants bordering on clueless over Brexit | John Cracehttps://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/nov/20/civil-servants-bordering-on-clueless-over-brexit
<p>MPs left scratching their heads after facing big-hitters from the Home Office, the UK Border Force, HMRC and Defra </p><p>It started badly and got steadily worse. Labour MP Meg Hillier opened the public accounts committee session on the state of UK borders after Brexit by asking Patsy Wilkinson, the second most senior civil servant at the Home Office, how many different digital services programme directors for the UK Border Force there had been recently.</p><p>“Two or three,” said Wilkinson hesitantly.</p><p>‘The border is a system. But it’s a system that sits within other systems’</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/nov/20/civil-servants-bordering-on-clueless-over-brexit">Continue reading...</a>BrexitPoliticsEuropean UnionLabourConservativesCaroline FlintEuropeForeign policyUK newsMon, 20 Nov 2017 21:50:05 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/nov/20/civil-servants-bordering-on-clueless-over-brexitPhotograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty ImagesJohn Crace2017-11-20T21:50:05ZYes, I’m the child of an MP. That’s no reason to give me abuse | Hanna Flinthttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/18/mp-child-bob-stewart-children-judged-caroline-flint
The Tory MP Bob Stewart says his son has been singled out by a teacher because of his father’s views. No child should be judged in this way<p>When I was 14, one of my teachers held me back after class to ask me something. It wasn’t about my contribution to the lesson or my work: it was to ask how my mother was going to vote on Britain’s participation in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/mar/18/iraq.iraq6" title="">Iraq war</a>.</p><p>If you didn’t guess from my surname, I’m the daughter of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/11/former-europe-minister-caroline-flint-to-defy-labour-whips-on-eu-bill" title="">Caroline Flint, the Labour MP for Don Valley</a>, who at the time had represented the constituency for six years. I remember sitting there, confused. Does this guy really think my mum discusses her political moves with a 14-year-old who is more interested in romcoms and her next basketball game than the inner workings of Her Majesty’s government? Apparently so.</p><p>It’s an irresponsible and unacceptable abuse of power as well as a bad lesson for the teacher’s students</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/24/is-it-ok-to-be-friends-with-a-tory">Is it OK to be friends with a Tory? | Joseph Harker and Sonia Sodha</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/18/mp-child-bob-stewart-children-judged-caroline-flint">Continue reading...</a>PoliticsUK newsLabourConservativesYoung peopleSocietySchoolsEducationBullyingCaroline FlintMon, 18 Sep 2017 11:05:52 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/18/mp-child-bob-stewart-children-judged-caroline-flintPhotograph: Alamy Stock PhotoPhotograph: Alamy Stock PhotoHanna Flint2017-09-18T11:05:52ZCaroline Flint: 'Conservatives don't show climate change the respect it deserves' – videohttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2012/sep/10/caroline-flint-climate-change-conservative-video
Caroline Flint, the shadow secretary of state for energy and climate change, criticises the Conservative leadership for trying to reap the PR benefits of environmentalism while lacking the imagination to deliver on their promises. She argues that climate change should be discussed in terms of the opportunities the green economy offers to people in the UK <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2012/sep/10/caroline-flint-climate-change-conservative-video">Continue reading...</a>Climate changeDavid CameronLabourEnvironmentPoliticsCaroline FlintUK newsMon, 10 Sep 2012 08:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2012/sep/10/caroline-flint-climate-change-conservative-videoOliver Laughland and Josh Strauss2012-09-10T08:00:00ZA patronising Question Time | Libby Brookshttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/12/patronising-yup-significant-hardly
If the calibre of panellists on the women-only Question Time said anything, it's that the main parties aren't bothered about women<p>Now seriously, David, where was the dry white wine? If last night's <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/question_time/8562959.stm" title="BBC: All-female audience for Question Time ">women-only Question Time</a> was genuinely supposed to appeal to those mainstream mums and West Lothian women persistently referenced by Gordon Brown, David Cameron – or is it Nick Griffin? My lady brain finds it hard to distinguish, they all wear such smart suits after all – then surely it would have been more appropriate to stage the whole exercise around a kitchen table. That way, it could have served a dual purpose by morphing with those similarly targeted public health ads that portray two girl pals chatting about after-school schedules over a bottle of chardonnay while rendering themselves significantly more at risk of a stroke.</p><p>In many ways, Question Time with an audience solely comprised of women was just the same as Question Time with an audience solely comprised of people who want to be in the audience of Question Time. There was precisely the same proportion of people reading out their queries from notes in a shaky voice, shouty Daily Mail platitudes and comments that sank like a stone. (I always feel bad for those folk – wouldn't it be friendlier to clap everyone?) And there was, inevitably, a panellist who found it taxing to speak in sentences, but at least this week – for the sisterhood – it wasn't <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/07/carol-vorderman-politics-question-time" title="Cif: Carol, if you fancy politics get elected first">Carol Vorderman</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/12/patronising-yup-significant-hardly">Continue reading...</a>BBCBBC OneDavid DimblebyMediaCarol VordermanKelvin MacKenzieCaroline FlintPoliticsTelevisionWomenWomen in politicsLife and styleFri, 12 Mar 2010 16:05:55 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/12/patronising-yup-significant-hardlyLibby Brooks2010-03-12T16:05:55ZWhere was Caroline Flint's political message? | Anne Perkinshttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/11/caroline-flint
Speaking for the first time since her chaotic resignation, Caroline Flint didn't sound as if she'd been reflecting on recent events<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/" title="Woman's Hour">Woman's Hour</a> on BBC Radio 4 has done a great job this week drilling down into the whole women-in-politics thing. This morning Jenni Murray enticed <a href="http://www.carolineflint.co.uk/" title="Caroline Flint">Caroline Flint</a> on to the BBC for the first time since her chaotic resignation a week ago.</p><p>Murray hit all the right buttons, but Flint didn't sound as if she'd been reflecting much on the events of the past few days. Was there really a Women Against Gordon group? Ridiculous, scoffed Flint – there was just a group of women ministers who met for a drink or a meal from time to time.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/11/caroline-flint">Continue reading...</a>Caroline FlintWomen in politicsPoliticsWomenFeminismGenderLife and styleUK newsThu, 11 Jun 2009 11:06:33 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/11/caroline-flintAnne Perkins2009-06-11T11:06:33ZRecovering cannot be done through theatre. Action is the only solution | Jonathan Freedlandhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/09/labour-party-renewal-conservatives
To win back the voters of the broken heartlands, Labour must remind the public what it's for. But I fear it won't be enough<p>In the first few months of 1997, the Today programme led day after day with news of skirmishes inside John Major's government: a challenge to the prime ­minister here, a slight deviation from ­official policy on the euro there. I remember one 8am bulletin starting with a hint that Stephen Dorrell had shifted his view of the single currency from "not for the foreseeable future" to "never". Was he putting down a marker for a future leadership bid?</p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Dorrell" title="Stephen Dorrell">Stephen Dorrell</a>! Who even ­remembers him now? At the time it seemed so important. Yet within a few short months the Conservative party was consigned to oblivion, its internal wars over Europe little more than the fissures of a minor party that mattered to nobody except itself.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/09/labour-party-renewal-conservatives">Continue reading...</a>UK newsPoliticsGordon BrownLabourBNPTony BlairConservativesCaroline FlintTue, 09 Jun 2009 21:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/09/labour-party-renewal-conservativesJonathan Freedland2009-06-09T21:00:01ZAn all-women government, please | Lance Pricehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/09/labour-all-women-government-election
I'm not joking. The entire cabinet should resign and be replaced by women – then the Labour party will have a fair chance<p>This is going to sound like a joke. But bear with me, it isn't. Labour MPs have been asking themselves one big question for weeks now – is there anything, anything at all, they can do to actually win the next general election? None has come up with an answer. Even deposing Gordon Brown was only an option to minimise the defeat they all now think is inevitable.</p><p>But there is an answer to the question. I believe it would work. It would achieve the impossible, turn politics on its head, and at the very least make the election a genuine contest. They should consider it and consider it seriously. Whether they will or not is another matter.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/09/labour-all-women-government-election">Continue reading...</a>Women in politicsWomenJacqui SmithCaroline FlintMargaret BeckettYvette CooperTessa JowellPoliticsLabourHarriet HarmanTue, 09 Jun 2009 10:30:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/09/labour-all-women-government-electionLance Price2009-06-09T10:30:01ZBeyond Molvolio | Anne Perkinshttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/08/gordon-brown-women-in-politics
It was easy to dismiss Caroline Flint. Jane Kennedy's Militant jibe, however, was spot on<p>Another day, another woman minister gives up on Gordon. In the most breathtaking of all recent attacks, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jun/08/jane-kennedy-quits" title="Jane Kennedy">Jane Kennedy</a>, long-time middle-ranking government loyalist, was moved yesterday to resign because of despair at the Militant tendency-style tactics, the smear and spin, of the Brown regime. And she is from Liverpool. She saw them first-hand.</p><p>Yesterday another loyalist, the backbencher Sally Keeble, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/07/labour-party-brown-resign" title="used these pages">used these pages</a> to declare her own utter disillusionment with Gordon Brown's government. When serious women MPs like Kennedy and Keeble break cover, the political world has to take note. Caroline Flint may have brought a touch of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malvolio" title="Malvolio">Malvolio</a> to a grim saga. But Kennedy and Keeble reinforce the genuinely important case that she was also trying to make.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/08/gordon-brown-women-in-politics">Continue reading...</a>UK newsPoliticsCaroline FlintLabourGordon BrownGenderMon, 08 Jun 2009 21:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jun/08/gordon-brown-women-in-politicsAnne Perkins2009-06-08T21:00:01ZAn expanded Europe will benefit Britain | Caroline Flinthttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/may/01/eu-european-union-expansion-turkey
Maintaining the momentum of EU accession, particularly in the western Balkans and Turkey, will strengthen the UK economy<p>Five years ago the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_European_Union_member_states_by_accession" title="">European Union expanded overnight</a>, extending its boundaries to include 12 new members and 104 million more citizens. But not everyone was rejoicing. Euro-sceptics claimed that the EU's influence would be too great – or maybe too small. Some panicked that millions of new EU citizens would swamp our labour market. Others feared that weaker economies would suck the funding away from the richer EU members. Many doubted that with so many voices around the table, anything would ever get done.</p><p>Five years on, it's clear that those sceptics were wrong. The EU is stronger for being broader: an expanded EU has vastly increased trading opportunities for British business, has increased security at home and in our neighbourhood and has weakened the case for creating a European super state.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/may/01/eu-european-union-expansion-turkey">Continue reading...</a>European UnionWorld newsUK newsBusinessCaroline FlintEuropeFri, 01 May 2009 16:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/may/01/eu-european-union-expansion-turkeyCaroline Flint2009-05-01T16:00:00ZNot for her eyes onlyhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/may/16/forhereyesonly
The exposure of Caroline Flint's policy papers wasn't a gaffe or an invasion of privacy. If the government were more open, it wouldn't be an issue<p>Is it an invasion of privacy to show <a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gcZWqMeGs-pDCQ2rnFlHcJicnimQD90L1N6O0">Caroline Flint</a>'s notes on the housing market as she gestured at photographers in Downing Street? How can politicians work if every scribble and note is subject to the public gaze? Was this an invasion of her privacy? Of course not.</p><p>Downing Street is not a private place, and this was fair game. If it had been leaked by the usual methods then we would all have been grateful for the information. But it reveals a much more important issue.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/may/16/forhereyesonly">Continue reading...</a>HousingCaroline FlintFri, 16 May 2008 13:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/may/16/forhereyesonlyCharlie Beckett2008-05-16T13:30:00ZResponse: Eco-towns will not be green ghettoes, but thriving communitieshttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/apr/15/greenbuilding.climatechange
They'll help us design and build homes in better ways, and pass on the lessons to all cities, says Caroline Flint<p>Simon Jenkins criticises eco-towns and insists that "cities are the new green" (<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/apr/04/property.ethicalliving">Eco-towns are the greatest try-on in the history of property speculation</a>, April 4); Dermot Finch, meanwhile, concurs that "eco-towns are a distraction" and believes we should be focusing our efforts on greening our cities rather than building eco-towns (Eco-towns are not the answer to climate change or housing needs, April 8). But why can't we do both?</p><p>The effects of the acute housing shortage are well known, with many families and first-time buyers priced out of the market. That's why we must build another 3m homes over the next 12 years. But we also have to make sure that we design and build homes in better ways. That is why eco-towns are important - creating new, affordable housing in areas of greatest need, while also trialling new ways of designing and building to ensure the whole town is zero carbon. Successful technologies can then be extended to all new developments and retrofitted to existing homes.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/apr/15/greenbuilding.climatechange">Continue reading...</a>EcotownsGreen buildingClimate changeGreen politicsCommunitiesEnvironmentHousingSocietyPoliticsCaroline FlintCitiesMon, 14 Apr 2008 23:01:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/apr/15/greenbuilding.climatechangeCaroline Flint2008-04-14T23:01:30ZBarbara Ellen: At least when I was skint, Caroline Flint wasn't around to shatter my dreamshttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/feb/10/1
<p>Like many a hack, every so often I get a missive from a bright young thing asking for advice on how to become, well, me. </p><p>All very flattering until the questions start - best journalism course to take; college to attend; career path to weave. At which point, the whole thing becomes disconcerting on several different levels: first, these clever, ambitious charmers are clearly after my job (Anne Baxter in All About Eve, via email). </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/feb/10/1">Continue reading...</a>PoliticsCaroline FlintSun, 10 Feb 2008 12:30:35 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/feb/10/1Barbara Ellen2008-02-10T12:30:35ZLeader: Council houses and Caroline Flinthttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/feb/06/leadersandreply.mainsection
<p>She proposes new schemes. It would be better to make existing ones work. Local housing departments are overstretched. They do not have the resources to make tenants seek jobs. Nor can jobcentres pick up the slack - they are already being forced to do more with less. With no one to police Ms Flint's scheme, it is not going to happen - which is probably a good thing. Most tenants without jobs have either health problems or caring responsibilities. All the others depend on jobseeker's allowance, which imposes stiff penalties on people who fail to seek work. Adding an extra threat of losing a home would contribute only anxiety.</p><p>Ms Flint must be trying to respond to recent Conservative proposals on welfare. Their plans to cut off all income from people who turn down jobs might seem less like tough love than abusive love to those on the receiving end. The Tories say they are seeking to dispel the idea that not working is an acceptable career option. Labour employs identical rhetoric. This bipartisan chorus, though, is out of step with a reality in which unemployment benefits are decidedly mean. They have been cut from 17% of average earnings in 1979 to just 10% today, and now stand at barely half the official poverty line. Few would voluntarily endure a life of such hardship, but the continuing political suggestions to the contrary have started to convince the public otherwise. January's British Social Attitudes survey revealed that in the last few years the view has taken hold among the majority that generous welfare is discouraging people from working.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/feb/06/leadersandreply.mainsection">Continue reading...</a>PoliticsUK newsCommunitiesHousingSocietyImmigration and asylumCaroline FlintWed, 06 Feb 2008 15:16:20 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/feb/06/leadersandreply.mainsectionLeader2008-02-06T15:16:20ZLynsey Hanley: To link council tenancy with jobseeking feeds the stigmahttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/feb/06/politics.immigrationpolicy
Caroline Flint should be offering an olive branch to those marooned in poverty, rather than shaking a stick at them<p>Imagine her surprise, she said, on discovering that council tenants are much more likely to be unemployed than the rest of the population, and that poverty and long-term worklessness have become concentrated on council estates during the last 25 years. Successive governments have commissioned reports into the causes and consequences of placing large numbers of disadvantaged people in a place whose location and layout entrenches that disadvantage. The results have been plain to see for years.</p><p>It doesn't work in the minister's favour to place her recommendation in context: she's just like you and me, you see, and the first time she hears of shocking things such as there being a link between concentrated poverty and the way in which housing has been allocated is when a kindly aide passes her a piece of paper stating the obvious.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/feb/06/politics.immigrationpolicy">Continue reading...</a>PoliticsLabourUK newsCommunitiesHousingSocietyImmigration and asylumCaroline FlintWed, 06 Feb 2008 15:16:19 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/feb/06/politics.immigrationpolicyLynsey Hanley2008-02-06T15:16:19Z